The best relationships are the ones rooted in friendship
by ozzyflower
Summary: This is a story about sarah at her life in boarding school where it explores her relationships with her family and friends. just so your not mistaken, this is an Elliot and Sarah fic! Not even sure if people still read these! Anyway, have a read and if you like it I will keep updating. (Full Summary inside)
1. Summary and Ages

**A/N: this story is about Sarah and her life at a new school 'IMG academy' (it is a prestigious school that I found online, if anyone who reads this happens to go there or know of it, please don't hate, I'm only basing the school off of its success and what it looks like etc). She meets lots of people there including Elliot. It's a school that specializes in sports. There is a prologue before the main story. The main story starts a month or two before the summer holidays and the summer chapters will be pretty long since they go to Lake Winnetka. After that it will go back to her life at IMG academy.**

**NOTE: if I get any info wrong about any kind of sports or about the school I'm using for the fic, I'm very sorry!**

**Also, sorry about any grammar issues and mistakes!**

**The Bakers**

**Tom– 51**

**Kate – 49**

**Nora Baker McNutly – 28**

**Tommy McNutly – 3**

**Charlie – 23**

**Lorraine – 22**

**Henry – 17**

**Sarah – 16**

**Jake – 15**

**Mark – 13**

**Jessica – 12**

**Kim – 12**

**Mike – 11**

**Kyle – 10**

**Nigel – 10**

**The Murtaugh's**

**Jimmy - 50**

**Serena - 32**

**Anne – 23**

**Calvin - 22**

**Becky - 20**

**Daniel - 19**

**Elliot - 17**

**Robin - 13**

**Lisa - 13**

**Kenneth – 12**

**A/N: I hope u don't mind the ages, I did get most of them from wiki so I know that that's some of their actual ages.**


	2. Prologue

**Prologue –IMG academy**

Sarah 12 years old

"I don't know Sarah, I mean it's all the way in Florida." Kate said to Sarah as they both sat at the dining room table along with Tom. "But mom! It doesn't matter! I know that I won't see you guys and everyone else all the time, but this is something that I want to do." Sarah said almost shouting. She slouched back in her chair and waited for a reply. Kate and Tom exchanged looks and then turned back to face Sarah.

"Well, we will have to have some more information on it and we will think about it. That doesn't mean that it's definite." Tom replied sighing. They both watched as a huge smile crept onto Sarah's face. "THANK YOU!" Sarah shouted as she jumped up in joy and squeezed the life out of her parents.

**1 week later**

Sarah skipped into the living room and slumped onto the sofa next to Jake. "What are you so happy about?" Jake asked suspiciously, knowing the full capabilities of Sarah's dark gifts.

Sarah scoffed. "What? Just because I'm happy, there has to be an ulterior motive?"

"Err…yes." Jake said blatantly. Sarah punched him in the arm lightly.

"Whatever. I'm happy because mom and dad are going to tell me if I'm allowed to go to IMG academy or not. I've already applied and got in, but mom and dad need to think things over like always." Sarah said.

"Oh ok. What is IMG academy like?" Jake asked leaning back more on the sofa.

"Ok, well it's this really elite sports training school. Not many students get in and students' board there. You get the most professional training of your specialized sports there; I'm planning on doing track and field there; cross-country and 200 meter sprint. The amount of high quality facilities there are insane! They even have former pro sports players as its coaches and former pro coaches. They also cover basic academic lessons and do out of school activities." Sarah finished and took in a deep breath.

"Well that's certainly impressive I guess." Jake said.

"You could be a little more excited for me." Sarah said, obviously annoyed.

"No, I am. It's just that you're not gonna live with us anymore you know." Jake looked at his fingers uncomfortably. "It'll be ok; I will always comeback for the holidays."

"Yeah, I know" Jake said and gave a weak smile to Sarah.

**Dinner table**

Sarah's parents sat across from her at the table with their arms folded. "Your mother and I have come to a conclusion; we think that if it will make you happy, you can go to IMG academy." Tom said smiling. Sarah sat there in utter shock of her parent's approval.

"We know that it's very hard to get into something this big and why waste a great opportunity?" Kate said.

"Thank you so much!" Sarah got up and, again, hugged the life out of her parents.

**Airport- august 25****th****-A couple months later, Sarah 13 years old**

"Ok, well I'm off guys." Sarah said as she and the Bakers all were saying there goodbye's.

"You know that I'm not even going to miss you, right?" Lorraine said as she glanced at Sarah.

"Yeah right!" Sarah laughed.

"Whatever butch." Lorraine replied.

Just as Sarah was about to say something back Tom stepped in, "Alright, that's enough guys. Come on Sarah, one last hug for the family." Tom said. All the bakers tightly enclosed around Sarah for at least a minute before she had to leave.

**On the plane**

'Okay, better look at this leaflet then.' Sarah thought as she picked up the IMG leaflet. Sarah's eyes revealed shock as she read. 'Jesus Christ, this school just keeps getting better!'

**Bradenton, Florida**

Sarah collected her bags and searched for a sign with her name on it. As soon as she spotted a tall dark skinned man, she walked over to him with her luggage.

"Hey there, you Sarah Baker?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to IMG academy." Sarah replied.

"Good, the car is right out here." He said.

They both got into the car and started to drive. "So tell me Sarah, what are you doing at IMG?"

"Oh, I'm doing long and short distance running. Sorry what was your name?" Sarah asked nervously.

"My name is John Stevens, sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier." John chuckled.

"Oh no, don't worry about it. So could you perhaps tell me a little about the facilities there?" Sarah asked excitedly.

"Sure, IMG Academy Stadium provides athletes a state-of-the-art environment to train and perform at their highest level. The multi-sport complex features a 5,000 seat capacity stadium, with fully secured access and parking spaces available for any size event. It serves as the home venue for the IMG Academy football, lacrosse, and soccer, as well as the new track and field program. IMG Academy believes that athletes deserve the proper stage to perform at their best, and this multi-sport complex represents just that. You Sarah will be using the track a lot if you're doing running."

"Wow", that's all Sarah could say as she struggled for words.

John chuckled and continued. "Quite something huh? We've also got the Gatorade sports science institute, which basically tests all your stats and limits and from the Information they receive from it, they can then give you the right kind of nutrition and exercise. It's the type of technology that the pro's use, no joking around with this stuff."

**At IMG academy**

"Ok, so about the accommodation. It says right here that you applied for the 'The Championship' room, is that correct?" the tall American man asked.

"Yes that's right." Sarah replied nodding.

"Ok, well the championship room is in the residence hall or as you would prefer, ascender hall. It's sized at 17'x11'6". It is a bunk-style set up, it's got two on opposite walls with a desk and all your things underneath. You have a full bathroom with a bath and some additional living space. It won't feel that big when you're in there, trust me. That's why you've got the common rooms etc. oh, you will be sharing with another girl your age, and she is called…Shannon Wood. She has already been here for a day or two so she can give you a proper tour of the place. That sound good?"

Sarah nodded her head ferociously. "Well why don't I show you down to your room?"

"Thank you." Sarah replied and smiled before following him out and into the residence hall. Sarah looked around in awe as the continued walking to her room. As the man knocked on the door, a girl with straight medium blonde hair came to open the door. "oh, hello." She said.

"Hey Shannon, your new roommate has arrived." He said, Sarah and Shannon greeted each other.

"Ok, I'll let you get settled in. remember, whenever you need me, I'll just be in my office. Bye" he said then left. Sarah walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She noticed that the bunk beds were to the left of her with dressers and desks and to her right there was a bathroom door and shelves and hamper etc.

"So it's Sarah, right?" Shannon asked happily. Sarah sat on her bed and replied.

"Yeah, and your Shannon?" Sarah asked politely. Shannon chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, oh! I forgot! Your luggage and items have been brought up, they are right there next to your dresser." Shannon pointed to her dresser.

"Oh, thank you." Sarah said as she began to unpack her things.

In a couple of hours Sarah had finished unpacking and found a new best friend. She felt happy that she was here, she felt that she can finally express herself and do what she really wants to do, as well as meeting new people and friends.

"So do you want me to show you around the halls?" Shannon offered. Sarah agreed instantly.

Sarah and Shannon walked through the building stopping at certain rooms. "Here is the laundry room." Shannon said as Sarah looked at the rows of white washing machines and dryers.

"There is a laundry room on each floor and so is every other room. We're on the third floor by the way." Shannon informed Sarah. They continued to walk around their floor; the whole floor was quite wide, not narrow at all.

"Here is the common area." Sarah looked around to see Ping-Pong tables, beanbags, comfy sofa's and chairs with tables. There are also some high tables with stalls along with some vending machines. Altogether the common room was very big and had quite a modern style to it. "There are 250 dorm rooms here, that is why there is certain facilities for each floors." Shannon said as they walked out and continued their tour. "We also have in-room Wi-Fi and we also get a full room cleaning once a week and our trash taken out once every two weeks. You don't do your own laundry; it gets picked up and then dropped off back to your room within 48 hours. Wow, I can't believe I'm remembering all this stuff, I only learnt about this yesterday." Shannon said amusedly. Sarah laughed a bit.

They both continued all the way down to the first floor. "This is the snack shop. I'm not gonna lie, I come here all the time." Shannon said. "It's just some 'quick grab items to get you moving you know."

"Cool, what sport are you doing here?" Sarah asked.

"I'm doing soccer, you?" Shannon asked.

"Simple short/long distance running." Sarah said laughing. "I still love doing sports like soccer and basketball etc. It's just that I find running to be my strongest suit." Sarah said.

**A/N: hey guys! I know this isn't that exciting since it's just a prologue and it's pretty rushed, but I just wrote it because I didn't want to have to explain all the facilities and areas first hand. I'm aware that I haven't wrote anything about them on the actual training fields and stuff, but that will happen later. Do not worry ELLIOT comes into the story soooooon! The next chapter skips a couple of years into the future and it will have some flashbacks of how some characters first met. **

**In a couple of chapters it will also be the summer holidays (I bet u can guess where the Bakers are going!) after the summer holidays it will resume Sarah's life at IMG academy. The summer will be quite long though.**


	3. An Ordinary Day

**Chapter 1**

**Sarah – 16 years old**

Sarah stretched on the grey carpet floor of her room. Sarah could hear the shower running, confirming that Shannon was in there. She changed out of her pyjamas and into an IMG top and some high length sports shorts with her white trainers. Combing her hands through her brown curly/wavy long hair, Sarah hastily knocked on the bathroom door. "HURRY UP!"

All Sarah heard back was a muffled response coming from inside the bathroom. "COME ON! I'm HUNGRY AND IV'E GOT TO BRUSH MY TEETH!" Sarah shouted, and then sighed. Sarah picked her blue IMG jumper from her bed and threw it on over her top. Just as she was about to knock again the door swung wide open. "Stop shouting already, I'm out." Shannon said annoyed.

"Good, took you long enough." Sarah said as she made a quick move to the sink to brush her teeth.

Sarah finished doing her teeth and when she came out of the bathroom, Shannon was waiting patiently already dressed sitting on her chair. "Well, you took long enough didn't you?" Shannon said tapping her foot.

"Shut up Shannon." Sarah said as they both started laughing. They both left their room and went to the dining room for breakfast.

Sarah and Shannon lined up with a tray and started piling up their food. Suddenly the tall man in front turned around to Sarah. "Oh, be careful not to spill any yogurt. It kind of ruins my shoes." He said with a huge grin on his face.

"Shut up! How do you still remember that? Jeez Elliot." Sarah said as she punched him on the arm. "That was years ago, you git." Sarah said as she began to laugh.

"You have to admit though, it was hilarious. I mean, you got it on my shoe and it wouldn't go off for ages. You would always apologise to me whenever you saw me, ah memories." Elliot said as he grabbed a banana.

"Well what do you expect? It was my second day here, ever! Anyway look at the upside, now we're best friends." Sarah said to him. They all sat down at a table and began to eat. Elliot waved over to his friend Sam; he began to walk over and then sat down next Shannon. "Hey Sam, how is your morning? I hope it was better than mine." Shannon said greeting him. Sarah than gave her a venomous look.

"Whoa! Sarah, what's going on you look like you're ready to kill!" Sam said catching on to Sarah's glance she gave Shannon.

"Nothing really, it was just a bit of a rush getting ready. Wasn't it Shannon?" Sarah said playfully.

"Yeah, yeah don't worry about it. We all know how Sarah gets in the mornings." Elliot said laughing.

"Well can you blame me? Back home I have 11 brothers and sisters that I can fuel my morning rage upon. But now I only have Shannon." Sarah said as they all laughed. Sam pulled his short black curly locks back with a white thin head band, which made him look even more foreign. Sam is Spanish-American and can speak fluently in both languages, he has light tanned skin making him look not that pale but not that tanned. Elliot on the other hand is completely tanned with his jet black hair spiked up all around his head neatly.

"We're going to smash the raiders next Wednesday, I know it. I can already here the commentators saying, 'They've done it again! The Ascenders beat the raiders 66-21!' Elliot said enthusiastically. Everyone laughed. "You can lower the points that the raiders get you know, I can't remember the last time our school has lost a team match." Sarah said.

"I know, I'm just feeling sorry for them." Elliot said, serving another round of laughter from the table.

Sarah got up, "right guys, I'm off."

"See you soon. Wait, no, yeah, I'm going to." Shannon said.

"Ok, see you guys at lunch." Sam said.

**Running Track**

Sarah stood next to six other girls her age, all standing in their running uniforms. "Alright, I know its hot today, but that isn't an excuse. Ok?" coach told them clearly. "Right, let's do our usual warm up." He ordered. Sarah groaned and started running around the track. Sarah and the rest of the girls remained at a steady pace as they ran round once.

"Ok ladies! In a minute I want you all lined up so we can test the speed of your sprint, you know the drill. But before that, there is the annual long distance running tournament held in about a week and a half. There will be try-outs on Friday, which is five days from now. They will be held at 14:30 pm, only two athletes can compete and this from ages 15-17. So it won't just be your group that can try-out. Do you all understand? Any questions before we get started?" coach waited for a moment before speaking again. "Good, now come on! Let's go!"

**Dining Room**

Sarah headed to lunch alone and sat down at a table. In less than five minutes, about seven people came to sit next to her on her table. They were all mixed races and good friends of Sarah. "Hey Ken, how was lacrosse?" Sarah asked a Japanese tanned boy about her age.

"Same old, same old. You?" Ken asked as the others listened into the conversation.

"There are try-outs for the long distance tournament in a couple of days and I'm going to try and get in because only two girls can compete for IMG." Sarah said.

"Oh, ok, sounds cool." He said.

"Yeah, you should be able to get in, seeming as you are probably one of the best runner's here." a girl called Becky said to the left of Sarah.

"No I'm not. I'm only sixteen. There are brilliant runners here who are much older than me." Sarah said.

"That's true there are loads of brilliant runners here, were all brilliant. But your even more brilliant!" another one of Sarah's friends said. Sarah smiled at the compliment, though the conversation was getting her a little uncomfortable. She didn't like it when she was compared to other athletes. It was fine when she joked around about it with her closer friends, but she doesn't want to be seen as arrogant. Even though there was not really any 'popular' crowd or 'the loners, everyone seemed to love Sarah. Maybe it was just her personality. Everyone at IMG is friends, no matter the age of gender.

It was 16:30pm (recovery/rest time) it's about an hour till dinner and Sarah had just finished getting changed into her casual clothes. She knew that Shannon was in the common room, so she started walking towards the dorms, but stopped along the way.

She stopped by the doors and heard squeaking noises from the other side. She entered the gym and found Elliot dribbling around cones. Elliot noticed her presence and started jogging towards her. Sarah noticed his sweat and started jogging away from him. "Get away from me, you're sweaty!" Sarah shouted laughing. "Aw, come on Sarah. It's not that bad!" soon Elliot was chasing Sarah around the whole court, he must admit, it wasn't easy catching up. Soon Sarah felt warm arms wrapping around her waist. Elliot held her as they both began to laugh hysterically.

Sarah cringed at the smell his armpits were giving off. "Oh god, seriously take a shower!" Sarah said to him.

"Stop fretting, I'll take one soon. Just let me shoot a few more hoops." Elliot said as he picked up a ball. Just as Elliot was about to shoot, Sarah quickly intercepted it and snatched it away.

"Hey!" Elliot said trying to get it off Sarah without hurting her.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that!" Sarah exclaimed.

Elliot stepped towards her even more so she couldn't run away with it. "Get off me!" Sarah said giggling. Sarah collapsed to the floor huddled over the ball so he couldn't get it. Elliot had no other choice. Elliot attacked her sides, tickling them with all his might. Sarah began laughing hysterically. "Ok-hahahaha!"

Sam walked in through the gym doors and stood afar from them. "Come on lovebirds! Dinner is soon! I'm Hungry!" Sam shouted. Elliot got off Sarah and swiftly snatched the ball off her.

"Hey!" Sarah said.

Elliot just laughed and put it away. Sarah walked past Sam as they were exiting. "Lovebirds? Seriously Sam." Sarah said to him.

"What? If I was just a stranger and walked in on that, I probably would have guessed that you were in the middle of something. If you know what I mean." Sam said innocently.

Sarah laughed and said, "You're a douche, you know that?" Sarah said to him chuckling.

"Yeah, well I take what I can get." Sam said laughing. Elliot walked to them.

"Stop goofing around you two, I got to get a shower." Elliot said as they all walked back to their dorms.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting for you." Shannon said as Sarah entered their room. Sarah sat on her chair and sprayed some deodorant on her. "Sorry, I got held up at the courts."

"Why are you putting spray on, you just had a shower." Shannon asked confused.

"Elliot, he bloody wiped all his sweat all over me!" Sarah replied angrily. "Sam also met us."

"If you think about it, it's kind of your fault that you're covered in his stinky sweat. I mean if you didn't spill your yogurt on him all those years ago, you would've never become friends." Shannon pointed out simply.

"Shannon, that's beside the point."

"Yeah, yeah. But still, is it really that bad having some really hot guy's sweat on you?" Shannon said chuckling.

"Shannon!" Sarah said seriously, while Shannon started laughing her face off. Sarah rolled her eyes and collapsed on her bed. After a few attempts, Shannon finally calmed herself down. "Ugh! It's so annoying that we've got school tomorrow! I can't be bothered!" Sarah whined while tossing and turning on top of her covers. "It's not that bad, we only have about three to four classes plus around forty-five minutes in the study hall. In other schools it's like six to seven hours of school. We finish by twelve-thirty anyway, and then free time and then practice." Shannon said. "But yeah, it's still a drag."

Sarah got down from her bed and went to the door, "well, I'm not gonna sit here and wait for tomorrow. I'm going to go shoot some pool, you in?"

"Sure."

Sarah and Shannon entered the common area and went to the pool tables. "Hey guys, wanna play with us?" Elliot said as they both walked towards them.

"Yeah, who else is playing?"

Sarah asked him. "Oh, err, me, you, Shannon, Sam and Ken." Elliot said smiling around him.

They all planned out who would play each turn because there are an odd number of players.

Soon the game got started and Shannon and ken's team have potted two more balls than Elliot, Sam and Sarah's team.

"I knew I should have gone on Shannon's team." Sarah muttered under her breath as Sam and Shannon high fived each other on potting another ball.

Sarah sighed and Walked around the table to get her right angle. As she leant down, she felt another pair of arms guide hers into place. "And just by bending your arms here-" Sarah kneed Ken in the groin. "I know how to shoot Ken." Sarah said to him as he was in pain on the beanbag. Just after that, she felt another man lean over her trying to help her. "I suggest taking your hands off me now Murtaugh, or do you want to end up like Ken?" Elliot's face grew pale and he silently walked away from Sarah. Meanwhile, Shannon and Sam were both crying with laughter while watching the scene in front of them.

"Alright guys I am hungry. Let's go." Sam told everyone.

**Dining Room**

They all sat together on a long table in the dining room eating and talking, that's when another student came to their table. "Hey bro how's it goin'?"

"Hi Dan, I'm good. What brings you over here?" Elliot said as Daniel came to sit to sit opposite him.

"Well, I'm actually not here for you, I'm here for Sarah, so if you don't mind." Daniel said now facing Sarah.

"Oh, what do I owe this pleasure then?" Sarah said playfully. Daniel grinned and passed a piece of paper over to her. "What's this?" Sarah asked.

"It's just a memo saying that the long distance tournament tri-outs will be held on Tuesday not Friday." Daniel replied.

"Oh ok, thanks." Sarah said while folding up the piece of paper.

"So football is going good, you guys absolutely thrashed the panthers." Elliot told his brother.

"Yeah we did, it's such a shame though, it's the summer soon and then I'm off to college. Post-grad year has been really fun though, you'll love it." Daniel said.

"I've still got my last year of high school though." Elliot said while eating his salad.

"You sure have, make the most of it." Daniel grinned.

"Unlike you guys who only have two years left, we have three!" Sarah said while gleaming at Shannon and ken. "Yeah!" ken said while high fiving Sarah.

"Yeah, but that means another year without your one and only." Elliot said, gesturing to himself. Sarah laughed and elbowed him in the side.

"Ow! You know Sarah, you are too aggressive. Soon, no one is going to want to hang around with you anymore." Elliot said while trying to keep a straight face. "The only reason I'm aggressive is to keep you in check." Sarah said pointedly.

"Whatever you say." Elliot said smiling. Sarah scoffed.

"Shut up." Sarah said.

"I'm sorry, I'll stop." Elliot said nearly on the verge of laughter.

"I'll see you guys later." Daniel said as he got up and joined another table.

**Two days later**

"Finally! I hate maths with passion!" Shannon said to Sarah as they both left there last lesson of the day.

"Yeah, but now i've got tri-outs." Sarah sighed. "I wish they would just pick people based off their performance in practice." Sarah said.

"Well, good luck anyway!" Shannon said excitedly.

**Running Track**

"Ok ladies! Hurry up! Let's go!" coach said as all the girls lined themselves up on the track. "On your marks…get set...(BANG)" in an instant they all started running at a steady pace. They all gradually formed a steady running line in the two inner tracks. Sarah stuck herself in the middle of the group, she didn't want to speed up to the front in case she loses energy. A couple of minutes later, Sarah started to make a move. It's the last 300 metres and Sarah had gradually made her way to the front of the line with two other girls. Speeding up, Sarah fully sprinted at the last 100 metres. She was running about four metres in front of another girl who was gradually starting to catch up. With one final boost of energy, Sarah created a huge gap between herself and the other girls as she sprinted over the finish line. Sarah slowed down and took in deep breaths, failing to keep a massive grin from crawling onto her face.

"I'm guessing things went well?" Shannon said in bed.

"Yep, I got first place which means I get to compete in the annual long distance tournament." Sarah said triumphantly.

**A/N: I hope you liked the first chapter! Just a reminder that it will be the summer holidays soon…you know what that means!**

**Anyway please R&R!**


	4. A Last Minute Surprise

**A/N: Hey! I finaly got round to writing this chapter, sorry it took so long!**

**I know that the 'Cheaper by the dozen' catergory isn't that popular, but it would be nice to get a few more reviews...please? Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

A Last Minute Surprise

Shannon tied her golden locks into a loose plat down her left shoulder. She moved towards her desk and looked at the time, '6:50 am'. Shannon sighed and turned her head towards Sarah's bed, just to find that she was staring right back at her with a mischievous grin on her face. "What are you staring at?" Shannon asked.

"It's your birthday…finally." Sarah said with excitement. "We've all waited so long for this moment! I think you're literally the youngest person in our year! Your sweet sixteen is finally here!" Sarah replied while getting up to hug her friend.

"I know! I can't wait! My parents have sent me my gifts, they should be here soon!" Shannon said, jumping happily up and down.

"Do you know what you're going to get?"

"I'm not sure, but I did ask for driving lessons." Shannon said getting even more excited.

"What?! That's so unfair! My parents wouldn't allow me to because apparently I don't need one at this point in my life! Anyway, I can't wait for you to drive! Yay!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Not so fast! I still don't know yet."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will. But right now, I need to get ready and then meet with the others so we can give you your presents." Sarah said while taking off her PJ's and going into the bathroom.

"Ok, I'll wait for you!" Shannon shouted from outside her bathroom.

**Common area **

As Sarah and Shannon walked in, they saw Sam, ken and Elliot were all sitting on the white couches. As Sarah and Shannon got closer, the boys got up and started wishing her happy birthday.

"Sit down; are you ready for your best present?" Sam said. Shannon nodded enthusiastically.

Sam brought it out from behind him to reveal a wrapped up round shape. Sam leaned over and gave it to her. Shannon laughed as she received it, it's not impossible to figure out what it was.

She unwrapped the gift and laughed. "Because it's not like I don't have hundreds of these already." Shannon said humorously as she held the yellow soccer ball in her hands. Sam laughed a bit, "wait, turn it over." Shannon turned the ball over to find large bold writing on it.

"OH MY GOD!" Shannon practically screamed and all the rest of them laughed at her expected reaction. "How did you get this?!" Shannon asked. "You managed to get Wayne Rooney's signature!"

"Let's just say I have connections, and we all know that you love him." Sam said. Shannon screamed with glee and hugged all of them.

"There's one more present from all of us." Sarah said as she got a rectangle shaped box from behind her. "Here you go, we hope you like it!"

Shannon ripped open the paper to reveal the latest FIFA game. "Thank you so much! I hope my mum hasn't bought me this! Oh, I love it so much!" Shannon said as she got up and hugged everybody again.

"Well I think that Shannon's birthday defiantly beats Ken's last birthday." Elliot said.

"I think everyone can agree with that, I mean come on, you lost your _very _expensive trainers that we all saved up to buy. That was kind of funny actually." Elliot laughed.

"I think that Sarah's present that she got last year from Elliot was the best." Ken said motioning towards Sarah.

"I still love it." Sarah said as she unclipped the necklace from her neck.

"You still where that?" Elliot eyed her.

"Yeah, it's great. I mean it's got a mini everything on here; a soccer ball that symbolises Shannon, a tennis ball that symbolises Sam, and a baseball that symbolises ken a pair of running shoes that symbolises me, and then a basketball that symbolises you." Sarah said as she looked at her gold necklace. She tried putting it back onto neck but struggled dramatically.

"Oh god, let me help. I swear you are hopeless at these things." Shannon said as she clipped it back around her neck.

"I felt horrible when Elliot got you such a thoughtful gift, and then I got you pink and black stripped shoe laces!" Sam said while wiping a hand over his face.

Sarah laughed and said, "Well I'm still wearing them too!" she lifted her foot up to show the laces, everyone laughed.

"Well now that the presents are over, let's go and get breakfast." Elliot said

**16:30 pm **

Sarah entered her room; she quickly peeled her clothes off and chucked them onto her bed. Opening the draws of her wardrobe she swiftly grabbed some black cut off leggings and a loose white tank top and slipped them on nicely. She found her iPod and speaker dock and quickly exited her room.

She only has an hour before she has to be at dinner, and she normally doesn't get that much time to practice. Sarah walked to the gymnasiums. There was a really small gym with mirrors that no one really used except for maybe yoga or something. Sarah routinely set up her iPod to 'demons' by Zeds Dead. As the music began to play, Sarah moved with the music and started to dance with a variation of different movements. She already started to sweat as she contracted and relaxed all different muscles in her body. Sarah liked to lock, pop, break and wave. One of Sarah's great passions is dancing, anything from street dance and hip hop to ballet and modern dance - she loves everything. Her routine ended with the music, she grabbed a bottle of water from her bag and took great big gulps.

Sarah decided to vary it up a bit, she switched the music from its current track to 'build a home' by The Cinematic Orchestra. She quickly tied her hair into a messy bun and began to dance slowly and softly to the soothing music. With mixtures of plié's, pirouettes and Grande Jeté's, she danced gracefully.

**Dining Room**

"So are you excited?" Elliot asked Sarah as there whole group were eating on a table near the back.

"Excited for what?" Sarah said, continuing to eat.

"The tournament?" Elliot replied with amusement. Sarah's face morphed into realization of what he was on about. "Oh right, that." Sarah said in a dull tone of voice.

"Well someone surely is enthusiastic." Shannon said sarcastically.

Sarah sighed and dragged a hand through her long hair. "Sorry, I'm just really tired." Sarah said as she tiredly squeezed her eyes close and opens them again.

"Were you dancing?" Shannon asked her, but before she could reply, ken jumped in.

"Wait, you dance?" ken asked in shock. A couple of them chuckled in his reaction.

"Yeah, but don't go start telling lots of people. It's just my family and you guys that know." Sarah said as she continued to stuff food down her throat. "Well I didn't know." Ken said with a pout.

"Oh shut up ken." Sarah joked.

"I don't understand why you keep it to yourself, I've seen you Sarah and you're bloody amazing!" Shannon announced abruptly. Sarah bowed her head a bit "your exaggerating." Sarah said with a hint of shyness.

"You know I'm not. Everyone should see how good you are! You could do something brilliant with this Sarah, aside from sport of course. Come on, give it a go! You could be doing shows and everything!" Shannon said enthusiastically.

A deafening shatter sounded from Sarah's plate as she dropped her fork onto it. Like a vein had burst somewhere in her body, Sarah snapped back "shut up! Can't you tell that I don't want to?!" Sarah said seriously. "Can you please just leave it alone?"

"sorry." Shannon replied quietly. The rest of them exchanged glances and carried on eating awkwardly.

Sam cleared his throat, "so when's the game coming up Elliot?" Sam said trying to ease the tension from the air.

"Game is on Wednesday, so only a couple of days from now." Elliot replied. "It's a friendly game, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we're going to dominate next match." Elliot said gleefully.

**Batting cages**

This is a very popular place to be if you're in the baseball program, but it's also a good way of letting out some anger, in this case it's Sarah.

Ken was already there hitting baseballs that came to him at the speed of light, or maybe it just looked that way. But it's still impressive. Ken stopped as he noticed Sarah walk in to the cage next to him. "Hey."

"Oh, hi." Sarah replied as she noticed him through the net.

"What are you doing in-" ken was interrupted by the sound of smashing coming from Sarah's cage. He stared at the magnificent power that radiated from her arm; she sent a ball flying ahead. For someone who doesn't play, can play quite well.

"You want to talk about it or something?" ken said to her as she continued.

"nope." Sarah said simply as she channelled her inner rage into the bat. Ken nodded his head and carried on himself. All you could hear was lots of clinks and clanks.

**Common area**

Sarah was finding her way back to her dorm, but stopped when she saw Elliot on his phone sitting on one of the couches. She made her way over and sat down next to him. Elliot put his phone away and looked at her. "What's up with you today?"

Sarah sighed and stared straight ahead. "I dunno."

"Is it to do with the whole dance thing?"

"No I don't think so, I'm over that. It's just a bad day. And I also kind of miss my family a little." Sarah turned to Elliot and gave him a weak smile. Sarah hardly ever gets this way; she isn't one to normally express her feelings.

"It must be hard to be away from such a large family."

"Well you're lucky; the majority of your family go here anyway." Sarah said with a slight pout. Elliot chuckled a tad and draped his arm round her.

"Oh come on Sarah, that's not fair."

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Sarah laughed a bit and snuggled in closer to him. They both closed their eyes and relaxed. It had been a long day.

**7:30am**

"Shush! You're going to wake them up!" Shannon said as she laughed.

"Wait a second; I just want to take a picture quickly!" Sam said with hints of excitement in his voice. Sam, ken and Shannon found Sarah and Elliot fast asleep together on the same couch earlier on in the morning. No one can turn down playing around with it a bit.

Sarah's eyes began to twitch open slowly. Her eyes focused to three of her best friends in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"You mean what the hell are _you _doing!" Shannon said laughing.

Sarah's faced washed in confusion but then morphed into realization when she looked at Elliot, lying beside her. A blush crept up Sarah's face as she hurried to get off. Everyone watched her in amusement as she dramatically failed in trying to keep her cool. Elliot stood up and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well, err…I'm going to get ready. Have a shower."

"Me too." Sarah said quickly as they both quickly went to their dorms, leaving behind their hysterical friends.

"That was hilarious!" ken said as he held his stomach.

"I love Fridays…" Sam said just before he left to breakfast.

**Library**

Sarah sighed as she rested her chin on her hands. "Have I ever told you how much I hate studying?"

"Every day." Shannon said, carrying on with her work. It remained silent for a few seconds before Sarah started up again. "I don't even know why we bother, I mean, we're basically being trained to become professional athletes. I don't need an education." Shannon sighed and looked up to her friend.

"Yes we do Sarah, everyone does. Your just being lazy because you're stuck on a math equation." Shannon replied. Shannon has always been clever; she has the best of both worlds. If she doesn't follow a career in sport, she could be a doctor or a lawyer, something like that.

A loud sigh emerged from Sarah's mouth. "I can't wait for the summer holidays." Sarah closed her eyes as if she were dreaming of it.

Shannon put her pen down and turned herself so she was directly facing Sarah. "Look Sarah, we have our final exams in two weeks. That means that I have to study hard so that I can do well. If you keep complaining I might just explode, so do me a favour and either study, or go somewhere else. And quit with the moaning, the holidays are just over three weeks away." Shannon replied firmly.

Sarah nodded her head and got back to working.

**Study room**

Elliot yawned and let his body slump over his desk. "I can't believe that I have strength training after this. I don't think I can handle it, I'm too tired."

"I know right, but I can't wait for lunch. This is taking way to long." Sam said with his head on his desk. "Can't wait for the holidays to be here." Elliot moaned and started throwing his pen into the air and catching it.

"Are you going anywhere for the holidays?"

Elliot fiddled with his pen. "Yeah, me and my family are going to our house in late Winnetka."

"Lucky you. I don't think I'm going anywhere this summer." Sam sighed.

"Why not?"

"Ah, we just don't anymore, not since my dad died. We always used to go to his place his brother owns in Madrid, but since then we haven't really gone anywhere. We got kind of cut off from his family so." Sam said with a small smile. Everyone was aware of Sam's family situation, his father used to be a professional motorcycle racer. He died one day when his bike crashed against one of the opposing ones in a race, about six years ago.

"Well if you want, you could always come with us? We have more than enough room, I'm sure you're your mum will let you." Elliot offered with a glimmer of hope. Sam smiled at the kind gesture.

"I'll ask, that would be great. Oh, that reminds me, can we go to the mailroom after this?"

"Uh, yeah sure, I think I'm expecting some mail actually." Elliot said as he started throwing his pen up into the air again. A few seconds later his head snapped to the teacher telling him to stop throwing the pen. Elliot sighed and looked to Sam who was sniggering, Elliot knocked the elbow that Sam was leaning on off the table, it caused him to jog and scribble all over his work.

"What the hell! You made me ruin my work." Sam said annoyed, he glared at Elliot to find that he was now the one holding his hands over his mouth to stop him from laughing.

**Dining room**

The group had all sat down at their usual spot in the dining hall. "God, I'm glad that's over. I don't think I can take anymore revision." Sarah said as everyone nodded and agreed.

"We're going to the mailroom before training, you want to come with?" Elliot asked Sarah. Sarah swallowed her food and replied. "Sure, need to check for mail anyway."

"Yeah, we'll come with. My mum will kill me if I don't reply to any of my grandparents letters." Ken said seriously.

"You know what I don't understand? I don't understand why they can't just use their phones. What's the point in having one if they aren't gonna use it?" Shannon pointed out, flicking her hair to the side so it wasn't in the way of her food.

"I think it's to do with making seem more personal or something, I don't know." Elliot said furrowing his brow.

Sarah chuckled a bit, "great explanation."

Elliot laughed along with her, "what? I said I didn't know, didn't I?" Sarah just shook her head and silently laughed.

**Mailroom**

"Right, let's see if I have any mail." Ken said as he went to find his small pigeon hole. Everyone checked to see their mail. It was silent as everyone read their letters from home, a couple of them laughed at what was written.

Sarah suddenly froze in shock as she read the end of her parent's letter. She had completely forgotten. "Guys…"

The group turned their attention to Sarah with confused looks streaked across their faces. "What is it Sarah?" Shannon asked.

"It's parent's weekend tomorrow."

**A/N: sooo...what's going to happen next chapter?!**

**-Also, I'm trying to get to the summer holiday bit really fast since i have already written the majority of those chapters!**

**Please R&R!**


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